Marble Bust of the Emperor Hadrian

3D Model

Roman, Hadrianic period, ca. A.D. 118-120 Found in Hadrian’s villa at Tibur (modern Tivoli, near Rome) Collection of Shelby White and Leon Levy (L.2007.8.2)

The bust shows Hadrian in the early part of his reign, when his beard was still relatively short and his face had a serene and slightly gay expression. Romans generally shaved off their beards when they reached maturity in their mid-twenties. Hadrian was the first emperor to continue to wear one and so started a fashion that persisted in imperial portraiture until the time of Constantine in the early fourth century. Hadrian’s choice to remain bearded was influenced in part by his love of Greek culture, in which beards traditionally signified wisdom and maturity.